MPs have been given free corporate tickets to the most sought-after event at the Olympics – the men’s 100m final.

Four members of the culture media and sport select committee have accepted the prized seats from BT, one of London 2012’s leading sponsors.

Ministers have been banned from freebie trips to the Games.

But the culture committee chairman, John Whittingdale, gave BT permission to offer the hottest tickets in town – worth £420 each – to his members because they have been scrutinising the Games for five years.

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Last night critics said the MPs’ decision to take up BT’s offer represented a conflict of interest, since the committee is a watchdog over telecoms issues. BT has also made a multi-million pound move into the sports rights market winning the right to screen Premier League football for the first time.

The MPs’ decision to accept free tickets will enrage the millions of people who have found it impossible to get any Olympic seats at all.

Fury: Sir Alistair Graham, the former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, condemned the decision

BT are keen to stress that they are not laying on a lavish hospitality package around the 100m final on August 5, like those costing around £7,000 which have been offered on the open market.

But the MPs will be taken to the BT Tower in London where they will attend a briefing on the company’s role in the Games before being ferried to the Olympic Stadium where they will watch the race.

Yesterday Tory MP Mr Whittingdale defended his right to a free seat at the 100m final.

He said: ‘BT are having a briefing on their involvement in the Olympics. My committee has spent five years having regular sessions on the preparations for the Olympics. It’s not terribly surprising that we might have wanted to go and have a look.

‘This is not the first time I’ve been to events with BT or companies that operate in the area that we scrutinise. But they are a major sponsor of the Olympics and have put a huge amount of money into the Games.

‘It would be utterly extraordinary if we didn’t take a look at the Games. I don’t see that this compromises the committee at all.’

He admitted he is also attending Olympic events with the organising committee Locog and other events on behalf of the Government.

But he admitted the tickets to the star event of the entire games was ‘a great invitation’ and added: ‘Of course I want to go to the 100m men’s final. It’s one of the most exciting events.’

He also conceded the tickets ‘might encourage people to attend the BT briefing’.

Tory MP Philip Davies also admitted that he has accepted a ticket to the 100m and said: ‘Somebody invited us to go along. We’ve been scrutinising the Olympics for ages. I don’t see why we shouldn’t go along and have a look at the Games.’

Olympic stadium: Thousands of fans were not able to get tickets to the Games

Main event: Jamaica's Usain Bolt (R) wins the men's 100m final at the National stadium as part of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

But a Cabinet Office note circulated to ministers told them: ‘The presumption for all invitations should be that they are declined. Should you feel there is an exceptional case to justify attendance it will need to be supported by a business case and to come to the Cabinet Office for approval.’

Sir Alistair Graham, the former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, condemned the decision of the MPs to accept, pointing out that the MPs will not have to declare the tickets on the Register of Members Interests until three months after the Games.

Four members of the culture media and sport select committee have accepted the prized seats from BT, one of London 2012¿s leading sponsors

He said: ‘I am sure most people would be appalled that MPs are being given special treatment when the rest of the population have had to go through all sorts of hoops to get a volleyball ticket.

‘It is appalling that they can accept these tickets and they don’t have to declare them until after the Olympics are over. If people are accepting offers of this sort they should declare them immediately and let their constituents make a judgment about whether they are appropriate or not.’

Tamasin Cave, of the pressure group SpinWatch, said: ‘You can understand why MPs would jump at these tickets, but to accept them shows very poor judgment. These tickets are like gold dust – thousands applied for them.

‘Corporate hospitality as a lobbying tactic runs through our politics. This raises the question of what BT hopes to get in return. It looks very much like they are trying to curry favour with a group of MPs whose job it is to monitor its industry.’

Former MP and anti-sleaze campaigner Martin Bell said: ‘If I were an honourable member and the public are paying hundreds of pounds for tickets I would wonder why MPs get to go for free and what was expected in return.

‘MPs have to be very careful about conflicts of interest and the appearance of conflicts of interest.’

Several members of the culture committee, which has shot to prominence as a result of its role investigating the News of the World phone hacking scandal, have turned down the tickets on the grounds that they don’t think the offer is appropriate.

Doing the right thing: Labour MP Tom Watson decided not to take a ticket while Tory Louise Mensch said she had considered taking the ticket before declining

Labour’s Tom Watson, the most
high-profile member of the committee, told the Mail: ‘I’ve taken a
personal decision not to accept freebies. This is the sports committee
and if any section of Parliament is going, it should be them. But on a
personal level I applied for tickets and couldn’t get any and I’d feel a
bit uncomfortable doing it this way.’

At least two other members of the committee, former Labour sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe and Lib Dem Adrian Sanders, will not attend the 100m final, but are likely to see some of the events since they are Olympic ambassadors charged with accompanying foreign dignitaries to events.

Fellow Tory Louise Mensch said she had considered taking the ticket before declining. She said: ‘I have turned it down but I’m glad John Whittingdale is going to see how they handle the flagship event as he has been supervising our inquiry for years. I don’t need to see it myself but I am happy to delegate.’

Labour MPs Paul Farrelly and Jim Sheridan said they had also not taken tickets from BT.

The remaining committee members – Tories Therese Coffey, Damian Collins and Labour MP Steve Rotherham – all failed to return calls, though it is thought that two of them have accepted tickets.

A spokesman for BT said: ‘The cross party committee have a remit that covers the Olympics and so as a major sponsor we feel it is appropriate to brief them on BT’s role in helping to deliver the Games as well as the impact for the legacy programme and local regeneration. The briefing concludes with our hosting them at the stadium.

‘Four members of the committee have accepted to date and the cost to BT is under £500 per guest.

‘The vast majority of the tickets we have bought are going to our retail customers through our Record Breakers promotion or our employees for reward and recognition.’

An amendment has been made to this article since publication after Jim Sheridan MP contacted us. He wished to confirm that whilst he was offered Olympic tickets, he did not accept the offer.